I read an entertaining brief blog today from Nautilus about the pervasive nature of cognitive bias in today's world, so prevalent that the writer, Brian Gallagher, posits that colleges and universities should create academic departments to study the problems of stupidity. As he says, though, who would want to be a "stupid professor," as short-hand for professor of stupidity.

Graham Parker, many years ago, sang about a "Museum Of Stupidity," replete with images of religion and American advertising. Frankly, this is just a cheap shout out for a great song. After all, anyone who can write the following lines should be revered as a god.

One day there'll be a museum of stupidity Where we can hang ourselves and throw away the key Along with the attitudes of the PMRC And this bullshit drug war full of hypocrisy The banning of 2 Live Crew They'll probably put 2 Live Crew in there, too.

Nevertheless, Parker's title, in conjunction with Gallagher's article, made me think of a "Curriculum of Stupidity:"

Description: Stupidity Studies prepares students for a lifetime of frustration and despair, armed with all of the knowledge of how most people in the world are really, really stupid, and yet there is little that a smug academic with a Stupidity Studies B.S. can do it about. Jobs might be found in Think Tanks. However, it is more than likely that the graduate with the SS B.S. will be hired by politicians, lobbying groups, and advertising firms and asked to use the knowledge for manipulative purposes. As a result, the SS B.S. might be best suited for people diagnosed with sociopathic tendencies.

The curriculum and faculty are dedicated to presenting students with real-life case studies. All courses come with the promise of three or four stupid guest speakers, promoting their ignorance without even realizing that they are being used to show negative examples of thinking. The university is proud to keep this requirement even when our guest speakers later learned that have been used in such a manner. Consider this curriculum as the Sacha Baron Cohen of academia. Unfortunately, pending litigation does not allow us to list such past speakers.

Student Learning Outcomes:Upon completion of the program, students will be able to

1) Identify the stupid among us, characterizing them by the logical fallacies that ground each of them;

2) Explain the inevitably simple ways that the stupid reject the complex that is at the nature of all truth;

3) Describe the fundamentals flaws people use in trying to change the mind of the stupid;

4) Rationalize that killing all stupid people won't rid the world of stupidity;

5) Create myths about the saving of the world from the stupid.

Program Entry Requirements:

A "B" or better in the university's "Fundamentals of Critical Thought," Freshman Seminar course.